I remember the first time I heard about Passchendaele and the battles of World War 1 was in elementary school. Visits by veterans were commonplace at our school, both men and women who had served in the Canadian Army who were kind enough to donate some of their time to visit us eight graders. Through old grainy black and white films and presentations, we had the chance to see what happened on those far away battlefields in Europe.

The movie Passchendaele brings to life the Battle of Passchendaele Ridge (near Ypres in the Belgian province of West Flanders), one of the major battles of the Great War. The Allies' objective in the summer of 1917 was to break through the German defenses, seize the highlands of Passchendaele Ridge and from there, capture the German-occupied Belgian channel ports. British and Australian/New Zealand troops had fought for weeks sustaining heavy casualties and gaining very little ground. Continuous bombardment and shelling of the area had destroyed the existing drainage system, and heavy rains which lasted days on end had turned the entire area into a quagmire of mud, water, corpses, dead horses, barbed wire and miscellaneous wreckage of months of battle - a perfect hell on earth. By October, divisions from the Canadian Corps were brought forward. From October 26th to November 15th Canadians attacked and gained the town and the ridge. More than 15,000 casualties were sustained, about four fifths of those who had been part of the attack. No fewer than nine Victoria Crosses were awarded to Canadian Soldiers who fought at Passchendaele.

The movie Passchendaele is one of the most stirring, ambitious and expensive film projects in Canadian history. It attempts to bring home to a large audience how young boys fought to survive the horror of war and it's after effects. It puts on display the valor and incredible endurance of Canadian soldiers who faced impossible odds. For Paul Gross (writer, director and lead actor) the inspiration for the film comes from a very personal place. Gross' conversations with his grandfather, a WW1 veteran, generated the first sparks of interest in the Great War and started a long journey which culminates in the film.

Gross’ character injured Canadian soldier Sgt. Michael Dunne, is sent back home to Calgary, Alberta to convalesce. While recuperating, he meets Sarah Mann (Caroline Dhavernas), a stunning young nurse who is determined to keep her emotional distance from her patients. Despite this Dunne falls deeply in love with her. Like Dunne and many others, Sarah has been permanently scarred by the conflict. Her father was recently killed in the war, and she is terrified that her hotheaded younger brother David (Joe Dinicol) will join up and be shipped to the trenches. David is asthmatic and Dunne is determined the boy will never see action. Despite Dunne’s best efforts David manages to join up and is sent to Europe. Dunne returns to the front in an effort to protect him. Kudos to Paul Gross (Sgt. Michael Dunne), Caroline Dhavernas (Sarah Mann), Joe Dinicol (David Mann) and Gil Bellows (Royster) who gave their characters vivid clarity.

Does the film live up to its promise? For this Canadian who often finds himself starved for media that shows the development of the Canadian character and not afraid to show patriotism the answer is yes. The film left me with a powerful sense of how the war affected lives on both sides of the Atlantic...thousands of miles apart. It also portrays a powerful contrast between a rich untouched Canadian landscape and flattened gruesome war torn Belgium. There are undertones of how Canada (barely fifty years old) was shedding its colonial infancy and taking on its role among the nations of the world through the quiet valor of its soldiers.

Probably most striking were the actual combat scenes. Let's face it, a good number of us who haven't served in the military are used to a diet of old war films and the simulated war sequences of video games really don't have a good understanding of what real combat is. Sitting in the dark theatre and living vicariously through the reactions of the actors I was immersed in the horror and fear of living through real combat. There are no modern weapons here, no hand held missile launchers, no tanks, no armored vehicles or modern machine guns. The weapons in the film are ancient by comparison and what you see is vicious hand to hand combat.

Being a huge fan of Paul Gross, I feel almost guilty mentioning that there were some flaws with Passchendaele. There almost seems that there are two stories in one film - one with Paul Gross' character adjusting to life back in Canada and then the other of life in the trenches in Europe. Each could stand on it’s own as a separate story. There are a lot of themes running through this film causing a feeling of disjointedness at times. Perhaps if the movie had been longer some of the themes presented could have been developed more.

Despite this I left the theater deeply moved by the sacrifice of a generation. The eighth grader inside me was grateful that the old grainy images of a war 90 years ago were replaced by a more forceful understanding of the Great War and how it shaped our country and the twentieth century.

With Remembrance Day just recently, the movie Passchendaele stands as a powerful reminder to us of the acts of sacrifice and heroism of a generation of young Canadians who forged a new identity for their country in the hellish landscape of a decimated Europe.